Inquisitors Woe
by drovenmad
Summary: Inquisitor Xanxans is hoping his next mission is nothing more than a routine investigation of an Ork infested system... there will be nothing routine about it, Between a Sister Superior who hates him, a Eldar Farseer, a Dark Eldar Archon and a whole army of orks. What could possible go wrong and who is this mysterious voice called the Guide?
1. Prologue

**Name: **Inquisitors Woe

**Factions: **Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar and Orks (maybe Chaos too)

**A/N: Second Warhammer FanFic. Please let me know what you think. Makes it all worth while :3 jk, I just want to know that I haven't screwed up some major detail but meh. Hopefully this will continue but only time (on a Eldar Farseer) will be able to tell.**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)**

* * *

Inquisitor Xanxas sat at his terminal on board the Dauntless-Class cruiser _ Valiant, _ even though it was rare for these ships to be far from the fleet he had always preferred them. They made his job of getting where he needed to be quickly and relatively quietly quite easy, and the ships were smaller and less crowded - even with him and his squad of Adepta Sororitas warriors - than the larger vessels. He always tried to requisition on of these ships instead of travelling onboard the Black Ships like his Inquisitor brethren seemed to prefer.

This particular ship was making its way to the planet Scaroos to investigates received by the surviving member of an Imperial Guard Recon Squad of high Ork activity and possible Heretical activity. Normally this would have been left to a squadron of Astartes, but when the transmission had came through he requested the assignment, after all they were near the system and it would be unwise not to investigate. Command had agreed with him, but stressed that they were only there to investigate, and at the first hint of Chaos activity were to request assistance from the nearby Angels Sanguine Space Marine Chapter.

_"Come my dear Inquisitor"_ A ghostly voice seemed to fill the room as it echoed from the inside of his head, a Psyker, that was impossible not during warp travel.

"_I await your arrival_" There it was again, he was sure he had heard the voice but looking round there was no one in the room. He closed his eyes and focused, letting his own psychic abilities seek out whomever was speaking to him. He let out a small yelp as he was hit by psychic flashback as he had tried to reach beyond the ships warp field. Obviously someone had heard him yelp because the door behind him opened.

"Inquisitor Xanxas, are you alright?" He turned to face the person who was speaking to him. It was the Sister Superior of his Squadron of Battle Sisters, Sister Avaline. She was young for a Superior and seemed to favour leaving her helmet off and allowing her tied back blonde hair to flow during battle.

"I am fine sister, Just a silly mistake. That is all." Her eyes seemed as though they were trying to pierce through his soul and judge his every action and deed, in fact he was completely sure in her mind he was already branded a heretic. And all because he was a Psyker.

"We will make planet fall within the hour, please be ready." With that she took one last look at him and left the room, closing the door quickly behind her. She didn't even wait for a response. She defiantly hates me he thought.

* * *

**Meanwhile on Scaroos**

An ancient Webway gate unused for a millennia suddenly activated, the shimmering blue light that came from it lit the jungle around it, and even the individual drops of rain. Through the gate stepped four individuals, the one at leading them was the only one not wearing a helmet and as she stepped out of the gate her skin meet with the falling rain. The rain enhanced the features of her long face and black hair that fell straight around her head. The long black cloak - that made her bare pale arms stand out even more was - adorned with small white lettering along the seams floated only centimetres of the cold wet ground. The other three - all wore similar attire, long black cloaks with black plate-like material underneath and a small roundish helmet that had a white face plate, that along with the black surroundings enhance the red glow of the eye pieces - moved around to flank the Farseer.

"Are you sure he will come?" the Warlock closest to the Farseer asked, he was doubtful that an Inquisitor would willing seek out a Eldar Farseer as she was suggesting was going to happen.

"Yes, I have foreseen our meeting, though I must ask that you remain on guard," she turned to face her Warlock guard. "There is a third person at this meeting, one that I cannot see."

"Of course Farseer." The Warlocks exchanged some looks, had they not been wearing helmets they would have been worried looks. After that the troop set off towards a small clearing that the Farseer knew her meeting would take place in, though she did promise them that the rain would stop. Once they had passed the tree line the Webway gate fell silent and ceased functioning once again.

* * *

Several hours passed and once again the Webway gate flickered into life, the light it let out this time was not blue and nor did it shimmer, this time it violently flashed as purple lighting arched from the top of the gate to the ground. Out of the gate this time emerged three figures. Unlike the Eldar before them it was a male that lead two females, and none of them wore helmets. There spiked black armour seemed to ignore the rain completely, as even when wet it let off no shine.


	2. Chapter I

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar and Orks (maybe Chaos too)

**A/N:** woo second chapter, little information lotsa fluff maybe even a little in accuracies about to the warp but meh

Please review, and don't feel bad about pointing something I missed or made a mess of out.

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

* * *

Two Valkyries dropped down through the low cloud of the planet of Scaroos, and flew over the high tree tops looking for the landing sight, a clearing large enough for both of them. It was not long until they found one. Inquisitor Xanxas had demanded that they land on the opposite side of the planet than where the Ork hordes were. This meant landing in a dense forested region, which the pilots had not been too pleased about.

After the Valkyries had landed and shut off their engines the Inquisitor and his squadron of Battle Sisters disembarked. It would take the sisters a while to unload their equipment so Xanxas decided that the best thing to do would be to start without them. He moved far enough away from the large transports as not to get in anyone's way but stayed close enough that Sister Avaline would not see fit at giving him another lecture about personal safety. He sat done on a bolder at the edge of the clearing and closed his eyes.

He began to feel the planet around him, the presence that it left in the warp. Every plant, every tree all of it left some small imprint in the warp and all of it told a story - though he admitted most of the stories were rather boring - to the west there was a large concentration of a low level presence in the warp, Xanxas made the correct assumption that it was an Ork hunting party or small Ork encampment. There was only one more anomaly that caught his attention, it was to the north, and was much closer than the Orks. It was a huge presence in the warp, a shadow on the things around it, he was unable to tell if it was the shadow of chaos, although he thought if it was chaos, he and the sisters should leave as soon as possible for he was no match for something that powerful. Against his own judgement he decided to reach out and try and discover more about the anomaly, at first he was careful and approached with extreme caution hoping to remain undiscovered. He was unsuccessful, the presence turned its full attention on to his mind. Two piercing eyes were staring into his very soul.

"_You have come!" _The ghostly voice that had spoken to him whilst he had been onboard the Valiant returned, this time much louder and clearer. "_Looking into that which must at all time be viewed with suspicion is never wise_"

There was a sudden bolt of pain as the other presences rejected his mind and forcibly ejected him from his meditation. He jumped to his feet and quickly observed the area around him, the sister were almost finished unloading there supplies, thankfully it looked like none of them had seen what had just transpired. He slowly began to make his way back towards the Valkyries, his eyes observing his surrounding his environment at all times.

* * *

"Inquisitor," Sister Avaline turned to face him as he reappeared, even though she was shorter than he was onboard the Valiant, with her armour on she seemed taller than he was. "We have finished unloading our equipment and are ready for the Ship to send down men to secure a Base of Operations."

"That will be unnecessary Sister. I don't plan on being here for very long." Xanxas didn't want any more men than he needed on this Ork infested rock.

"Sir, that is against Imperial protocol." She didn't wear a helmet so Xanxas could see the look of anger in her dull green eyes.

"Tell the pilots to return to the ship," He meet her sharp gaze with nothing more than a look of contempt. "They are to stay there until I say otherwise," he made sure to put a lot of emphasis on 'I' to make sure she understood exactly how serious he was being, "Am I being clear sister?"

"Yes, Sir." The Sister continued to glare at Xanxas for sometime before turning away and activating her Vox to relay his orders to the Pilots, who in turn would relay them to the captain of the Valiant. Not long after the order was given the engines on both Valkyries fired up and lifted off, within seconds they were above the canopy of the surrounding jungle and after a minute they passed once more above the clouds and out of the sight of the units they had left on the surface.

"Which direction sir?" the sister superior approached Xanxas after the Valkyries were out of sight.

"North," he spoke after a minute of thought, and internal debate as where it would be safe to head in the direction of a potential Chaos threat. His curiosity had won the argument, he wanted to know the source of this voice. "We head north, there is a large psychic presence that we must investigate."

"Yes, Sir." Sister Superior Avaline turned to face her soldiers, "We head north, possible Heretic contact. Be Vigilant sisters."

With that the entire group started to make their way north through the overgrown jungle at a slow pace due to the Battle Sisters heavy and bulky armour. Noticing this he was glad that he had not brought a squad of Astartes.

* * *

The Battle Sisters and Inquisitor Xanxas had been marching for the better part of a day - which on this planet seemed to be relatively short - as night approached they found themselves leaving the congested jungle and entering another clearing. Xanxas could have sworn that they were almost right on top of the large psychic presence, but there was no obvious signs of corruption - which relieved him - but he was worried by the lack of any sort of evidence of the psychic presence. They stopped, the sisters all had their weapons raised ready to counter any threat that brought itself down upon them.

"We stop here for the night Inquisitor." Sister Avaline spoke towards the Inquisitor, Xanxas noted that she had made it an order not a request. He nodded in return.

The Sisters proceeded to make clear areas for fires and set up a perimeter around the camp. Xanxas on the other hand had no intention of stopping, but he would not dare travel further than the sister perimeter at the risk of being accused of trying to sneak off and summon some daemon by Sister Avaline. But after an hour of stalking the perimeter he had gained no information and returned to the main area, he spotted a small fire that only had one Sister sitting at it, he moved towards it. He sat down, better one sister than a group of them he thought, only then did he look up and see that the sister who was sitting opposite him was Sister Avaline.

The two of them sat in silence, occasionally giving each other a slight glace or glare if they noticed the other looking. After some time it became clear that there were whispers within the main body of the group, and that they seemed to stop when ether the sister Avaline tried to hear what they were about. Though Xanxas was pretty sure he could guess.

"Many of your Battle Sisters are young."Xanxas asked, trying to elevate the annoying silence that was currently filled by little more than whispers and the occasional crackle of the fires.

"They may be young," Xanxas noted that her tone was the same as it would be if he had just threatened her. "but dare not question their strength or faith."

"I question not their faith or strength," Xanxas had almost had enough of her unnecessary aggressive attitude. "Just there experience, are they fully prepare to engage a greater Daemon or Chaos lord?"

"I...," Xanxas eyes had changed from his normal calm and kind stare to a cold glare, he seemed to have touched a nerve. Her answer was quiet, so quiet he almost didn't hear it. "No. I would doubt any of them would survive."

"Faith can only protect you from the enemies within yourself."

"The Emperor protects!" she almost screamed at him, as she rose to her feet, suddenly enraged by him - an Inquisitor no less - suggesting otherwise.

"Calm down Sister," very quickly she regained her composure and returned to her seated positions. Once more a eerie silence fell between them. But this time nether of them broke it.

* * *

If he had to guess Xanxas would have said that it was about midnight for this planet, the clouds of the day had cleared and both of the planets moons stood at their peak in the sky. That meant that the clearing was relatively well lit, he could clearly make out the silhouettes of the resting Battle Sisters, who were all leaning against something be it a tree or a rock. He had not wanted to sit to near to him but Sister Avaline had insisted of keeping him under guard and as such four sisters where resting in strategic places around him. Another quick look around told him that none of them were sleeping, a few moved too much and some even whispered.

He decided this would be a good time to once more examine the warp around them. He closed his eyes and started to reach out. The large presence that he had felt earlier in the day was still there and still right next to them, although it was too strong for him to clearly see what it was however he was sure the opposite was not true. So he decided to ignore the larger presence and look further, as he did he immediately found his next object of interest. It was another small presence, larger than an Orks or another Humans, but it was extremely twisted and had he not encountered those tainted by Chaos before he would have assume that it was the taint, but it was not, it was something that he had never seen before. Something that was just as twisted as chaos, full of malice and hatred. But as he was about to try and force it to reveal more about itself when the voice returned, louder and clearer than even.

"_A wise man does not trek down a broken path,_" the words seemed to echo in his head. This time he did not break the link, he was determined to get some answers.

"Neither does he lock himself away from the world." He responded, he couldn't target the other mind like it had with him, but he could still talk to it.

This time the other mind broke the line and its presence disappeared from inside Xanxas head. But it was only after it had gone that he realise just how hard he was breathing. He opened his eyes, to see that very little had changed except that there was another sister beside him. Sister Avaline was right beside him, close enough to whisper.

"We are being watched." She said, obvious by the tone in her voice this was causing her some concern. She looked at him, Xanxas smiled.

"We have been watched since the moment we landed, if not before." They had caught someone's attention, other than this large presences there were three smaller once that the larger one had tried to mask. One had stayed with the large one the entire time, but the other two had been moving to follow the Inquisitor and his Guard. One in front of them and one behind them, now all three along with the larger one had surrounded them. But they were waiting for something.

"What why didn't you tell us?" she was trying - and mostly succeeding - to keep her voice quiet, but without waiting for an response she changed her mind about keeping quiet. "Sisters be ready, we be under the eyes of the enemy."

The Sisters of battle were on their feet and armed in seconds, Avaline grabbed the Inquisitor and throw him into the middle of the circle that the Sisters had formed, ready for whatever came their way.

* * *

From her place in the trees Farseer Alythwin quietly waited with one of her Warlocks standing next to her, the humans had settled down a while ago, and her other Warlocks had reported in. She was about ready to make her move, but just as she was about to give her order the human Psyker once again began to reach out with his mind. He was persistent she had to give him that. She followed him her he mind, he first looked once again at her. But he quickly shifted his focused towards the dark and tangled mess that had been stalking her and her Warlocks.

" A wise man does not trek down a broken path," Her voice echoed through the warp, seemingly shaking the human again, then she waited for him to sever the connection, but unlike the last time he didn't.

"_Neither does he lock himself away from the world._" His voice responded to her, she was caught slightly off guard by the conviction behind the humans words.

Just as she was about to respond, the Warlock touched her shoulder, pulling her out and breaking the link with the Humans mind. She looked at him and silently asked him why he had disturbed her. In response he pointed at one of the warriors the Human Psyker had brought with him. She was moving slowly to sit beside the Psyker. After a minute and what seemed like a short conversation, she shouted something and the rest of the Humans stood up, weapons drawn and enclosed around the Psyker who had been dragged into the open by the woman who had given the order.

"Warlock, bring the other two back." He nodded in compliance and then sent the message out psychically to the other two. "We have a Mon-Keigh to visit."


	3. Chapter II

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar and Orks (maybe Chaos too)

**A/N:** Shorter Chapter this time, mainly because it seemed like a good place to end the chapter instead of looking for a stopping point.

As usual please review. XD

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

* * *

"Sister Avaline," Xanxas was not happy about the way he was being treated. He knew that it was the job of the Sisters to keep him safe, but he was more than capable of defending himself. "I am quite capable of my own defence."

The Sister Superior ignored the comment made by the Inquisitor who was standing in the middle of the circle that she and her battle sisters had created around him. Even though the moons light made the area considerably brighter it was still hard to see anything past the tree line. Shadows of the forest surrounded them. The younger sisters seemed all too eager to shoot something there Bolters had been raised the fastest and their fingers hovered only inches of the triggers. Both Xanxas and Avaline could see this, and both knew that if they really were attacked they would lose most of the squad due to inexperience. There was movement from the forest in front of the Sister superior, all of the Bolters were trained on the spot within seconds. From the bushes emerged Farseer Alythwin, the white symbols on the seams of her clothing seemed to glow in the dim light of Scaroos two moons. The Sister superior opened her mouth to give her troops the order to kill the Xeno when she realised that she already had a blade at her throat.

"Not a word, Mon-Keigh." Came a voice from behind her, obviously the owner of the blade. She sister could not see the blade or its owner, but Xanxas could, he was taller than the battle Sister and gave off a large psychic aura that was typical of the Eldar Xanxas had seen before. His sword was a like nothing Xanxas had ever seen though, it had an almost hourglass shape to the blade and was surrounded by pulsating blue energy. Xanxas then seized the initiative and took the moment where the Sister Superior couldn't contradict his order to save the lives of these young Battle Sisters, the Eldar wouldn't kill without reason - he hoped.

"Stand down sisters." He gave the order with conviction, and although they were confused they complied with the Inquisitors order.

"Smart choice," another voice came out of thin air and two more Eldar similar to the one holding the Sister Superior appeared in front of him, there blades trained on him though not as close as the others was to the sister. "Now drop your weapons."

All of the sisters seeing their charge being threatened became greatly angered but as he looked around at them they could see that in his eyes he wanted them to do as they were told, so each sister relinquished her Bolter. The Sister Superior had hers taken, she was still to shaken up to move. The three warlocks then moved all of the Sisters into a line on the Inquisitors left - he had went to move as well but a quick jab with the point of that nasty looking sword told him to stay put. The first Warlock finally released the Sister Superior and throw her at the rest of her lined up sisters.

"Stay put." He said slowly, as if he was talking to a child not a respected enemy.

Farseer Alythwin who had moved back into the shadows now emerged once again, with the grace and elegance that seemed to come to the Eldar so easily she walked over to Xanxas who was standing on his own in the middle of the clearing. As she stopped in front of him he got a much better look at her, skin far paler than any humans he had ever seen, her long face and contrasting black hair did nothing to improve to look of her pale skin. Her eyes were tapered with yellow iris's and her psychic presence was undeniable, in fact it was gigantic, a shiver ran down Xanxas spin. The only thing he could not understand was that if she terrified him this much why could he not look away, why was it that whenever he tried he ended up looking into those captivating eyes of hers.

"_A voice in the night can call even the most waywardly soul_" a cold and ghostly voice rang out in Xanxas head, it was the same voice that he had been hearing for days.

"What is that you want Xeno?" Xanxas summoned all of his willpower to try and fill his voice with some semblance of authority, though it seemed that the Farseer found this little more than amusing.

"Want, there is nothing that we want Mon-keigh," this time she spoke so that everyone could hear, though her voice sounded no different than it had inside his head. "Need is what we have and feel, but what is it you need Inquisitor?"

"I..." Xanxas was taken aback, with no trouble thing Eldar had completely taken control of the conversation, and even turned his own question on him, "Why did you bring me here?"

"Danger, Mon-Keigh," her eyes seemed to grow colder - if that was possible - her stance was ridged, it actually reminded Xanxas of some of the older Inquisitors, "Warp, Chaos and Eye. These things are becoming more and more clear to the future we are walking towards. An event that is hidden from my sight by the twisting of Chaos."

"Warp, Chaos, Eye?" There was silence as the Inquisitor processed the words and information Eldar had spoken to him. Suddenly it hit him, he knew of what the Eldar Farseer spoke of, "The Eye of Terror!"

Suddenly from the shadows of the forest erupted a loud, cybernetic and painful sounding laugh. It reverberated around the entire clearing. The Eldar Warlocks looked away from their charge and turned to face the three new figures who had just emerged from the tree line. As they emerged from the shadow Xanxas got a relatively good look at them, the one in the middle was also the tallest, like the Farseer he had a long face and tapered eyes, but his skin whist still pale had a grey tint to it, making him seem more sinister. His black armour seemed to reflect no light and only its shape was visible in the low level light of Scaroos moons, it was obvious that there were many spikes protruding from his shoulders and gauntlets, his long cape covered the rest of his shape. Behind him were two almost identical females, their skin a similar colour to his but hair was completely different, where as he seemed to have black hair tied back behind his head, theirs was the colour of flames, and was tied off at the top of their head - with what looked like bones - before falling down over there shoulders. There clothing and armour around the legs was similar to the Eldar Warlocks but in black and purple, but the chest armour Xanxas would agree looked more like the Sisters of Battles armour if much less bulky. They two females seemed to be holding blades in each hand, but the males blade was by far the scariest, it looked as though it was made of some sort of bone material. Though whilst it looked menacing it was the psychic screaming that surrounded it that scared Xanxas most.

Within seconds the Warlocks had once again surrounded the Farseer and the Sisters had gotten their guns back and after deciding that this new threat was more dangerous than the Eldar had them trained on the three new figures.

"Druchii!" the lead Warlock spoke, loud enough so that everyone including the new figures could hear what he said.


	4. Chapter III

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar and Orks (Chaos confirmed as well)

**A/N:** Ok this took longer than expected, through getting involved in writing Warhammer role-play fluff and writing other ideas and stories this seemed to take a bit of a back seat, but I finally finished this chapter and I hope it is at least decent.

please review. XD

**Onsholo: **Thank you for reminding me to change that, must have forgotten to ^_^.

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

* * *

Bolter shots rang out through the clearing, the Sisters had opened fire on the Dark, spiked laughing new arrivals. Before he could even respond Xanxas looked round to see the two sisters closest to him turn their weapons on the Farseer and her Warlocks. More gunfire rang out as they fired indiscriminately at all Xeno targets, in horror Xanxas turned round expecting to see nothing more than a pile of bullet ridden corpses, to his great surprise the Farseer, her eyes still trained on where the newcomers had emerged from, was standing there with two Warlocks standing beside her. The Third Warlock was down on one knee his free hand, pressed to the ground. The Warlock seemed to be generating a Psychic barrier protecting both him, his fellow Warlocks and his charge from any enemy fire.

"Cease Fire!" Xanxas wanted to get some control back, he screamed over the noise of the Bolters, "In the name of the Emperor I command you to Hold your Fire."

It took a minute or two but that seemed to have done it, the rate of fire slowed to a crawl. Xanxas scanned the body language of the sisters most of them seemed to be shaking under their armour, the only one who didn't seem to be was Sister Avaline he could see it in her face, her resolve was absolute she had only stopped firing because he had invoked the Emperors word. He took one last glance over his soldiers then turned to see the damage that had been done, unsurprisingly the Eldar seemed completely unharmed - he was beginning to think that this happened every day to them - he was more worried and interested in the three people who had appeared before the whole think had turned into a disaster.

Slowly Xanxas allowed his gaze to fall on the spot that they had been standing, what he saw almost made him fall over in shock, and from what he could hear most of the Sisters had just seen it too. Standing in the mist of the damaged foliage there were still three figures, completely untouched and uninjured from the hail of bullets that they had just sat through. Worse than that, the male - obviously the leader - was still smiling, his long thin face seemed to be stretched wide by his oversized grin the wrinkles around his eyes seemed to deepen the longer he stood there.

The three groups of people stood there in silence for what seemed like hours. By the time the Eldar Farseer spoke again the moon had once again been hidden behind cloud and rain was falling from the sky.

"Archon Kythorax," it was Farseer Alythwin that broke the silence, "Fate has once more had a hand in seeing you return to my side."

"Ah Farseer," out of the bush came the male leader of the troupe who had been standing in front of them, and still was. It was only when the other two also appeared out of the bush that Xanxas figured it must have been a hologram. "Fate has little to do with me returning to your beautiful side."

The Archon walked straight towards the Farseer and seemed to dance around the Warlocks as they tried to stop him - Alythwin raised her hands to stop them after they're failed attempt - with his grin still in place walked up to the Farseer and grabbed her hand. He gave a small bow as he lifted the hand up to his mouth, giving it a little kiss on her knuckles, even the Farseer herself seemed a little lost for words after that. Everyone was so shocked - including the Warlocks and Farseer - that no one saw the Archons two female companions quietly appear beside him. The silence that was created by the Archon was only broken when the Archons smile had decreased to the point where he could speak once more.

"Alythwin, I see you still have a thing for the monkeys." He turned to look at Xanxas for the first time, his faded purple eyes examining every detail he could on the inquisitor. "Though this one is rather young is he not?"

"Wisdom and knowledge are not reserved for the old, Fate has been shaped in a way that allowed our meeting," Farseer Alythwin had found her voice, though Xanxas noted that it no longer sounded as confident as it had been earlier. "Just as fate brought you here."

"Fate?" the Archon let out another frantic sounding laugh that seemed to reverberate in the rain around him. "We both know it was you, not fate, that called me here."

"Fate shapes us, just as we shape it." It was Alythwin's turn to smile, her response cause the Archons own smile to flicker.

There was a flash of lightning in the air, as the rain continued to fall in the two powerful beings before the Inquisitor. There was another flash but this time it was not lightning, in a split second the Archon had drawn a bone coloured blade from beneath his coat and struck at the Farseer with the full intent of killing her. She easily blocked the attack with her Singing Spear, she also seemed to visibly relax, it was as though she had been awaiting the attack from the Archon. Her Warlocks on the other hand seemed ready to all dive at the Archon, and they probably would have had it not been for the blades that were being held to their throats by the Archons female companions. Both the Archon and the Farseer lowered their blades with smiles on their faces, and signalled for their followers to do the same.

* * *

Xanxas was unsure what to make of the meeting before him, it had been about an hour since the new "Archon" had arrived and after greeting, and then trying to kill each other they had started to converse in their native tongue. His sisters were once again getting restless, and had been for most of the hour so much so that every now and again Xanxas had to turn and shot Sister Avaline a glare so that she knew to keep her juniors in line. The only thing the Inquisitor seemed to be thankful for at the moment was the fact that the rain had taken it upon itself to stop once more leaving the clearing under the light of the moons. The air around the groups was tense, it seemed than none of them trusted any of the others, and to make matters worse Xanxas could feel the faint presence of a Ork hunting party closing in on their location. Taking out the Ork hunting party wouldn't be too much trouble, but if the main horde was alerted to their presence on the planet that would be an entirely different issue.

After another few minutes of conversing the two Xeno leaders fell into silence, both seemed to be thinking about what the other had said. There was a sudden burst of static from the Inquisitors Vox.

"Sir, we have a slight problem up here." A voice rang through the clearing, it wasn't very clear and echoed making it hard for anyone but the Inquisitor and the xeno leaders - who were closest to him - to understand.

"What is it captain?" Xanxas had not forgotten about the nearby Ork party and decided to keep his voice to a minimum.

"Sir, it seems that some of the crew have started to question..." The captain was cut off by an explosion on his end followed by what the Inquisitor recognised as Lasgun fire.

The three leaders stood in silence waiting to hear what was going on onboard the Inquisitors ship. It wasn't long before the fireing and screaming on the other end of the Vox died down and the captains voice was replaced by another, much more hollow and dead sounding one that seemed to be cheering, seemingly Oblivious to the fact that the Vox was still broadcasting.

"Blood for the Blood God." Xanxas eyes seemed to widen in fear, "Skulls for the Skull Throne."

The _Valiant_ had fallen.


	5. Chapter IV

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks and Chaos

**A/N:** Sorry for such a long break between parts, I hit a bit of writers block and ended up concentrating on other things than my writing. Back now thought, might even update a few more parts by the end of the year.

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

* * *

The Vox unit had fallen silent a little over an a few minutes ago, though within the clearing the only movement had been from the Archon retinue, who after growing bored had decided to seat themselves on large boulders at the edge of the clearing nearest the Archon.

The Archon himself no longer had a grin plastered on his face, instead it now dawned an expression similar in seriousness to the Farseer in front of him. In fact, on closer inspection Xanxas would have said that the expression that was on the Archons face was one of anger, as though he had been lured into a trap.

"The Mon-Keigh ship has fallen; there is no longer a point in staying here, my lady." One of the Warlocks spoke directly at the Farseer, his voice was cold and slightly higher pitched than the one who had spoke earlier.

"Be still, or you shall bring the Green horde down upon us," The Farseer replied quite plainly, Xanxas could also feel it the Ork hunting party was growing ever closer.

"Come, Follow me, quietly." The Archon spoke, his voice did well to mask the anger that was present on his face.

Slowly the clearing emptied, every occupant sticking close to their commander and weapons trained on the others to make sure that no trickery or deception was in play. The Sisters had taken the opportunity to once again surround Xanxas, but this time made no aggressive moves against the Xenos' that were there.

"Inquisitor, what can we do?" one of the youngest sisters asked, her helmet hiding her fearful expression but it could not hide the shake in her voice. "If the Ship has fallen then we..."

"Faith is our shield sister," Xanxas answered without thinking, it was one of the lines that had been drilled into him a long time ago something to say when morale was low. It seemed to work, many of the sisters seemed to visibly relax within their armour, a sentiment he wished he could share, but his eyes were still dancing between the Farseer, Flanked by her Warlocks, and the Archon at the lead of their strange group.

* * *

The group had been walking through the rain soaked forest of most of the night before they finally reached the destination that the Archon had been heading for. It was a large cave hidden beneath layers of foliage. The Archon and his companions were the first to enter and did so without any hesitation, after a few moments they were followed by their Eldar kin. Xanxas and the Sisters were the last to enter, though Xanxas was extremely surprised by what he saw once passing over the threshold of the cave.

The inside of the cave was large enough for all of the groups to take their own area and set up, in the centre of the main chamber there was already a fire set up and burning quite nicely giving the entire chamber a radiant orange glow. The sisters claimed the area at the back, furthest from the door but offering the greatest line of sight on both of the Eldar kin and the door itself. The Dark Eldar took up a place to the left of Xanxas and his Sister, pulling out equipment backs that were hidden behind some of the rocks. Finally the Eldar set up opposite their kin and to the right of Xanxas.

"Inquisitor, can we trust these Xenos?" It was sister Avaline who asked him the question; she had yet to take her eye off the Archon or the Farseer, her stare jumping between them at regular intervals.

"I would never fully trust the Eldar or their Fallen brethren Avaline, but we must make do in this scenario." Xanxas said quietly to the doubtful sister. "Maintain your faith, The Emperor Protects."

"The Emperor Protects." Avaline muttered quietly in response.

She finally managed to place herself on to the ground and began to act like the squads leader again, she started asking the rest of the sisters for inventory and taking notes of what they would need.

Xanxas' mind was preoccupied on the Eldar Farseer's words from earlier in the night, what had she seen that had her so worried. It was about the Eye of Terror that he could be sure about just form her cryptic warnings alone, but he could not figure out why she would warn the Imperium.

"_Your mind is troubled."_The Farseer's cold voice echoed on the inside of his head once more, _"Sleep on the revelations that today brought, and tomorrow the path will become clear"_

Xanxas looked over at the Farseer, what was sitting in the middle of a semicircle formed by her Warlocks with her back to the wall seemingly all in deep meditation, she looked back at him and for a moment there eyes meet and a small smile crept its way on the Farseer's elongated face. That mere moment filled Xanxas with even more confusion, in one way he would have said that an Angel had just smiled at him, but on the other hand she was a Xeno and he as one of the Emperors faithful should never even think of her in the light of the opposite sex. Never the less, he took her advice and retrieve a bed roll form his equipment pack and laid it out before trying to get some sleep.

* * *

Xanxas awoke several hours later, or he at least assumed it had been several hours, the fire had died down and there was no noise from the other inhabitants of the cave. Carefully he looked around, the Elder had seemingly not moved, he quietly wondered if they slept like that, there fallen kin opposite them were not much different both of the Archons female companions stat in similar positions to the Farseer with their eyes closed and there breathing slowed, the Archon himself was nowhere to be seen. His own sisters seemed also to have given in to fatigue, though shock of losing the ship was also possible. A lone sister sat on a rock, her back against the wall it would seem that she had fallen asleep whilst on watch; he would have to make sure that Avaline never saw otherwise that sister was in for a hard time.

Slowly and quietly Xanxas stood up and made his way toward the entrance of the cave, pushing aside the foliage he walked outside. It was still night though there was a sliver orange at the very edge of the horizon, the end of this long night was drawing near. Suddenly he heard the sound of a snapping twig come from behind him, he drew his pistol and turned to see what it was.

"The monkey is jumpy." A cold cybernetic voice rang quietly out of the shadows, and slowly Archon Kythorax slithered his way out of the shadows of the nearby foliage, his arms raised to show that he was of no threat.

"What do you want Xeno?" Xanxas sounded as forceful as he could whilst remaining quite. There was a niggling right at the back of him mind that told him that the Ork hunting party was still in the vicinity.

"Want? There is nothing I want from you Mon-keigh." The Archon unsightly grin from last night made a reappearance on his pale elongated face. "I wish to give you some advice, as a Denizen of the Dark city."

"What is it?"

"Do not trust her."

"Who?"

"Who he asked, he is so obviously infatuated with her yet he still asks who." The humour in his words did not match the serious appearance that his face had suddenly taken. "Farseer Alythwin of course."

"Why should I trust you then?" Slowly the Archons grin reappeared.

"Now you are getting it. You shouldn't trust me either." Without waiting for Xanxas to respond, the Archon made his way back into the cave.

Xanxas turned around and watched the horizon as the sun began to rise over the tops of the jungles of Scaroos. As he watched, the Archons words echoed through his head along with the question he never got to ask 'Who should he trust then?'


	6. Chapter V

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks and Chaos

**A/N:** Ok first step is a serious apology for the long gap, but I found myself with a huge problem on where to go next. That has all been sorted out now and I have a new direction for the plot to take. This will be adding in a Space Marine legion (bet you can't guess which one, because there are loads and no clues). Hopefully though that means that Updates will become more frequeant.

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

* * *

As he watched the sun rise further into the morning sky he heard movement from the inside of the cave. The scraping of the ceramite armour that the sisters wore could be heard clearly outside of the cave, whilst the Eldar and their kin made only the slightest shuffling that was barely audible whilst you stood next to them. Silently he sighed before taking one last look at the flaming orange sun and returning to the cave.

Once inside he could see that the situation was even tenser than it had been last night, the sisters had returned to their adopted "ready to fire" position, something the Archon seemed to find rather amusing whilst the Farseer failed to even take the slightest bit of notice.

"Stand down Sister," Xanxas spoke firmly but quietly, the last thing they needed was the Ork hunting party to hear him yelling, or a gun shot from one of the sister bolters. "The Orks are still close and the last thing we need is a fire fight with those brutes."

Most of the sisters gave a slight nod lowering their weapon, followed by the Archons grin. Even though they had lowered their weapons, they did not take their eyes of either of the xenos, ever watching for even the slightest movement or sign of deception. Xanxas on the other hand moved over to where the Farseer was still seated on the floor of the cave.

"I take it you have an idea of how to get of this Ork infested hell hole?" He asked, trying to ignore the pointed looks that he was sure the Warlocks were giving him through their helmets.

"I do. Just as the river can always flow down another path, so too must the Eldar be fluid in their methods." The Farseer spoke in her normally flighty voice, though it was beginning to annoy Xanxas that the woman seemed to do nothing but talk in overly complicated cryptic phrases.

"I think she means yes," Came the cold voice of the Archon from over his shoulder. "I could have told you that though, since both she and I arrived in the same way."

"Would you be willing to allow us passage?" Xanxas directed his question at the Farseer, whilst not trusting her he had a feeling that the price she would demand would be less than that of her darker counterpart. This seemed to catch the Farseer's attention; she opened her cold silver eyes and looked directly up at him.

"Just like the ferryman, we two have a price for the crossing of our stream."

"And what would be the price that we would have to pay?"

"Knowledge is the greatest prize to the Eldar; the price is some of your own knowledge."

"And how will you receive this knowledge?"

"The same way I spoke to you when you were crossing the grand ocean." Xanxas knew what she meant this time, but it also meant that he would be unable to control which knowledge she obtained, her mind was significantly more powerful than his own.

"What knowledge do you seek?" A small smile slowly grew on the Farseer's elongated face.

"The experiences that make you who you are. They are vital to understanding a person at an emotional level."

Xanxas nodded before turning away and heading back over to the sisters, where Sister Avaline was staring at him not looking over happy about what he had just done. She went to speak, but Xanxas was not in the mood to speak, and simple raised his hand to silence her complaints. He sat back down in the space that his bedroll still occupied and began observing. The Eldar had returned to their strange form of deep meditation, and his own sisters whilst nervous seemed to be deciding on who should be watching the entrance of the cave to watch for the nearby Ork hunting party. Slowly Xanxas closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, another survey of the Orks would help him consider the Farseer's proposal.

With his eyes closed, Xanxas let out a large sigh and began to reach out with his mind. He could clearly feel the presence of the Farseer so close to him, but he chose to ignore her and move beyond, looking past her presence and deep into the jungles of Scaroo's to see the Orks hiding there. The Ork hunting party had not move much since the night before, he assumed that they had been resting the same way that he and the others had been, but they were resting in a rather unusual location, it was not secure or safe, in fact it was out in the open. He could see the Orks as clear as if he was sitting in a tree and watching them, something was wrong. The group of Orks seemed to be uncoordinated even for Orks, as though something was guiding them through the jungle.

"_Getting a little close to the enemy are we not Inquisitor."_ A deep, cold and calculated voice quietly spoke to him, he presumed to hide its presence from the nearby Farseer.

"_Who..."_ Xanxas tried to reply but the voice cut him off.

"_Ah Inquisitor, curiosity is a dangerous concept for someone like yourself. How about I answer some questions you might have, but you cannot ask, I have to guess."_

"_If you think you can."_

"_Excellent. Well I am the Guide, no, I am not on Scaroo's but I am reaching out to you through the expanse of the immaterial." _ The voice was full of confidence and seemed to be enjoying itself. _"I know you are not alone, the presence of an Eldar Farseer is not one that can be shielded easily, if you know what you are looking for. Of course with a Farseer I expect a bodyguard of three Warlocks, am I right?" _Xanxas could not believe what he was hearing; it was as if this person, this Guide, was sitting in the room with him, explaining nothing more than what he could see.

"_Yes... How do you..." _ Xanxas was interrupted by a loud screech that seemed to filled his head. As quickly as he could he pulled his mind back and tried to shield it from the sudden increase in psychic pressure. His eyes opened and he became aware if the tall figure who was standing in front of him, it was Farseer Aylthwin. It was the first time that he had even seen anything akin to anger on her face.

"One does not flirt with servants of change," She spoke clearer than ever before, obviously annoyed by what had transpired.

"Wait, that psychic screech was you." Xanxas almost shouted as he stood up, struggling to maintain his composure and not willing to be intimidated by the Farseer anymore than he already was. "Something as powerful as that will bring every Ork on the planet right to use."

"A mind as simple as an Orks can be manipulated and tricked, my screech to them will be nothing more than a whisper in the morning." With the angered look still clearly planted on her face, she closed her eyes and Xanxas felt her once more reach out with her mind. However, it was only seconds before she quickly opened her eyes, a slight flicker of fear in her cold grey eyes.

"What is wrong my Farseer," The Warlock who Xanxas had not noticed standing next to her.

"There is another mind at work; I cannot manipulate the Orks as I should be able to. They are coming, like a green tide they are flowing this way. We must retreat to back through the Webway."

"And what of the monkeys?" It was the Archons cold voice who asked this question as he entered the conversation.

"We have no choice, we must take them with us, the flow of the Webway will take them where they need to go." With that, both the Archon and Farseer turned to their bodyguards and started to give out orders.

"What is going on Inquisitor?" Sister Avaline appeared behind his shoulder.

"The Orks are heading in this direction; we need to get off this cursed rock." The Inquisitor replied, his resolve now sure that the Eldar deal was the only way off Scaroo now.

"How, the ship has fallen, and it will take days, maybe even months for the next ship." She approached the question tentatively, as though scared of the answer she was about to receive.

"We follow the Eldar... Into the Webway." Xanxas answered, trying to keep the conviction in his voice and convince the sister that this was their only option, but his mind was still preoccupied thinking about that other voice that had spoken to him, and what the Farseer meant by servant of Change. Who was the Guide?


	7. Chapter VI

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks and Chaos

**A/N:** See, told you there would be an increase in update speed, well as long as I have an idea on the direction that I am taking the story any way. Next chapter will probably be the last the Eldar and Dark Eldar feature for a while but don't worry it will enter the Marines, so something to look forward too.

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

* * *

"Sister Superior, Inquisitor!" The battle sister who had been guarding the entrance to the cave came running back in shouting at the top of her lungs. "Orks sighted, heading this way."

"Calm down," Xanxas remained calm, "It was only a matter of time. Avaline, make your troops ready."

After receiving a small nod from the Sister that confirmed that she had heard and understood his order he made his way over to Farseer Aylthwin. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Archon Kythorax was also making his way in that direction. As they both came up behind her, she slowly turned around her face returned to its normal unreadable state.

"I take it you are aware of the approaching Orks Farseer." Xanxas, after seeing that she could get angry just like any other person, no longer felt the awe and wonder he had earlier. "And that the entire horde will now be moving in this direction."

"The monkey is correct; we must leave as quickly as we can. The gate is not far from here, and the Ork party was small." The Archon added, no longer any hint of a smile on his face.

"The wind of fate has been manipulated by another." The Farseer almost unsure about what to do.

"You are right Mon-keigh, we have nothing to gain by staying here." It was one of the Warlocks who spoke in his Farseer's place. "But we will need to deal with the Orks outside before we can move, and that entrance is a choke point, neither the Druchii armour nor our own will last."

"Ours will, we can open the choke point and get you out, but once out in the open your speed with be key to pushing the Orks back." Xanxas was slightly at odds of planning a battle with Xenos but despite times called for despite allies, and it was not as if the Imperium had not worked with either of these factions before.

"Agreed, Archon have you any say in this matter?" The Warlock looked up at the Archon who seemed to be deep in thoughts, his long pointed gloved fingers gently stroking his long pointed chin.

"It seems we have to rely on the monkeys of the Emperor," Then he turned to Xanxas, the cold grin having returned to his face. "Our lives in your hands monkey."

With that the Archon made his way back over towards his retinue as did Xanxas. All that was passing through his mind was how he was going to explain to the zealot sisters that using the Eldar Webway was the only way of the planet, the Sisters were not known for their openness of accepting alien technology.

"I take it, you and the Xenos leaders have come up with some sort of plan?" Sister Avaline asked as he returned to the group.

"We have, we are going to use the Eldar Webway network to escape this planet," There was an audible gasp from several sisters but Xanxas spoke again before any of them could protest. "I know the risks that we run, but this planet is covered by the greenskin horde, and we now know that the taint of chaos is present. The Imperium must be told so that the planet can be cleansed. As an Inquisitor, it is my duty to use any technology in my power, be it Xenos or Human, to ensure that this mission is completed. The Emperor will protect us, even should we enter the deceptive Webway."

"The Emperor Protects" Chorused the sisters in response, as they did a small smile grew over Xanxas' face.

"Now, let us show these fragile Eldar how you fight the Greenskin Horde, in the name of the Emperor." He drew his bolt pistol from its holster on his leg and cocked the firing mechanism as he said this, the sisters did the same with their bolters, and Avaline revved her already primed chainsword.

Now ready to engage the Orks in combat Xanxas and the sisters carefully moved to the entrance of the cave, one of the sister slowly stepped out of the cave, using the thick foliage as cover. However, it was not enough, there was a series of loud bangs as the Orks hiding in the trees opened fire on the cave entrance, the sisters armour took several good hits before it finally failed and she was ripped to pieces under the volume of inaccurate Ork firepower. With one of their number fallen the rest of the sisters adopted their usual zealous battle doctrine, they began to charge out of the cave, carelessly spraying bolter fire in the general directions of the Orks before searching for cover. As soon as all of the sisters were on the other side of the cave entrance Xanxas made his way out, several shots missed his unprotected head by mere inches as he ran out the entrance and bunkered down next to one of the sisters. The two sides were now exchanging fire, the sisters more accurate shots verses the Orks sheer numbers, at this rate it was a battle that would carry on for a long time.

"Charge dem humies!" came a sudden roar from the Ork line, and out of the tree line came one of the biggest Ork Nobs that Xanxas had ever seen.

The Ork Nob was followed by what seemed like a eight foot tall tidal wave of green muscle, it was a truly terrifying sight made even scarier by the reaction of the sisters, many of them just began to empty their bolters into the wall but succeeded in doing very little damage. Soon the Orks were upon them and the melee began. In terms of pure physical strength, the Orks had a clear advantage, but the Imperium's technology made it an even fight. Xanxas was forced to drop his pistol and draw his own chainsword, leaving one had free. His superior skill allowed him to quite easily dispatch of the few boys that came directly for him, but most went for the easier pray of the Battle Sisters. Finally the Nob was bearing down on him the great hunk of metal the Ork wielded as a weapon raised ready to attack. As it came down towards him, Xanxas focused all of his warp energy into his arm, making it as hard as adamantium, then raised it above his head and caught the Orks weapon. He felt the power of the blow pass through his body, even his feet sinking slightly into the muddy ground.

"Heh, you got gutz humie!" The Ork Nob said as he tried to apply even more pressure to his weapon. Xanxas struck out at the Nob with his chainsword, beardy missing the Orks neck but close enough to make the Ork retreat from its advantages position.

The reprise lasted mere seconds before the Ork was once more coming at him with full strength, this time however, Xanxas was ready and used his chainsword to parry the Orks blow. Sparks began to fly as the two exchanged blows, completely blind to the rest of the battle; the Ork was surprisingly quick for its size and was managing to keep up with Xanxas. Then a strike of good luck, the Ork lost its footing in the mud and had to step back, it was all Xanxas needed. Raising his free hand out in front of him, pointed directly at the Ork, he concentrated and a bolt of white-hot lightning shot from his palm and collided with the Orks chest. The Nob howled in pain as the sustained bolt of lightning carved its way though eventually erupting from the other side and colliding with another Ork. Xanxas stopped the lighting, and there was a loud thud as the giant Ork fell, it was dead. The few remaining Orks, seeing their boss fall, decided to run and began to scramble back into the jungle. Xanxas fell to his knees exhausted; slowly he took a few deep breaths before looking around at the outcome of the battle. The ground had been turned to mud, not by water but blood, lying in the mud was numerous Orks and the corpses of his Battle Sisters, only Avaline was still standing. Xanxas tried to stand to get to her, but he had used too much energy and instead fell straight towards the mud-ridden ground. Nevertheless, he never made contact, he was caught by something soft and welcoming, and then he blacked out.


	8. Chapter VII

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks and Chaos

**A/N:** Well it is actually taking longer than I expected to get them off this bloody planet grrrr... anyway, someone wanted some Dark Eldar combat well I answered, in a small way hope it is enough to tie you over for the moment.

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

* * *

Xanxas could feel himself floating in the limbo of his own mind. It was quiet and bleak, a coarse white fog blinded the manifestation of his mind. Silently he sat in his own thoughts trying to reach out past the fog, trying to wake himself up, but in the end he was unable to breach the fog, and his reconnection to reality was delayed even further. Though the examination of this place that he was trapped in had revealed that he was not alone, someone or something was stalking his mind, probing for away in. The limbo began to chill as Xanxas became ever more aware of the other presence that was easily bypassing any and every mental defence that he could raise, closer and close it closed in on the conscious part of his mind, every inch it close the psychic pressure emanating from it increase in intensity forcing Xanxas down to his knees. However, it came to a standstill directly in front of him, he forced himself to look around but could still see nothing, until it appeared, a giant blue eye looking directly at him, right into his soul. Fear gripped the Inquisitor, and within this dream that was detached from reality he screamed, he screamed as the eye watched observing everything.

* * *

Xanxas awoke with a start, sweat running down his face and his heart beating at an alarming rate. He was lying on the muddy ground with his back propped up against something hard. The last thing that he could remember was fighting and killing a large Ork. Quickly he looked around, immediately noticing that they were no longer by the entrance to the cave but now back in the out of control jungle that covered most of Scaroo's surface. He moved to get up, but a long hand gently pushed him back down. He looked up, following the black armoured arm that held him in place and was surprised to be faced with one of Archon Kythorax's retinue. Her face was emotionless countering the gentleness of her touch. Xanxas decided that staying put would probably be the best course of action that was currently available to him.

"Where are the others?" He asked, he wasn't even sure if the Dark Eldar could speak but the silence was reminding him too much of his dream.

"Hunting." The answer was short, but her voice was closer to that of Farseer Alythwin than her Archon. It maintained much of its musical quality, but the mechanical undertone of cybernetics could still be vaguely heard.

Xanxas was not sure what she meant by hunting, it could mean that they were out hunting Orks or possibly something to eat, but he dare not ask the Dark Eldar who clearly was not happy about being left here to babysit him. Rubbing his head he though once more about the dream, and the giant eye that had been staring at him, why had he screamed? He could not understand what had been so terrifying that it would cause him to completely break, and that unnerved him more than anything else he had seen on this Emperor forsaken rock.

The time that the two of them spent in the clearing passed slowly, but by midday, the Dark Eldar finally allowed him to stand. Xanxas began to pace around the clearing. He was thinking about the skirmish, all of the sisters that died in such a short battle, all under his command. Franticly he rubbed his eyes and screamed at himself.

"What good does it do to think about the dead?" He asked himself, as if trying to logically convince his mind that dwelling on the issue wouldn't help.

"_To lose so many, this is the cost of war,_" It was the same voice that he had heard back at the cave, it was still as calm now as it had been back then, in fact Xanxas could swear there was a slight elation showing through in his voice. "_A loss that you can never justify_"

"_You sound like Alythwin._" Xanxas was being cautious, constantly looking around as though waiting for the owner of the mysterious voice to appear out of thin air.

"_The Eldar Witch can be entertaining, just as you can my dear Inquisitor. She would not be happy should she catch you speaking to me again._"

"_What do you want?_" Xanxas' patience was wearing thing, he had yet to get a straight answer from anyone who had peered into his mind, and if he was frank the it was getting annoying.

"_Want? Inquisitor, why would you assume I want for anything?_" Xanas could hear it in the voice; the owner really was enjoying himself, his self-confidence dangerously high for a psyker. "_No Inquisitor, it is you who must think about what he wants, or have you not realised what you are standing beside._"

Slowly Xanxas looked round at where he had been sitting earlier, and saw what he had been leaning against. Out of the ground was stretching a large structure, large squared spikes protruding out from the spine of the half arch. Over the structure were several glowing red orbs, gently pulsating. The structure was untouched by the nature of Scaroo's, there was no dirt, roots or even any debris it was still in a condition that looked as though it had just been built.

"You stare monkey, have you never seen a Webway portal before?" A cold recognisable voice prickled into his ear, turning his head slightly he saw Archon Kythorax coming out from the thick foliage, followed closely by the other female of his retinue.

"Of course I have seen them," Xanxas said, trying not to sound as annoyed as he was, "Just never this close before. They are truly remarkable, for something that has stood for so long, and still be in such a great condition. Think about what the Imperium could accomplish if we had access to the Webway." There was a cold shrill laugh; Kythorax seemed to find the idea of the Imperium having access to the Webway laughable.

"There is more to the Webway than stepping through a gate and travelling to another place," The Archon shook his head as he walked forward, placing his hand on the Webway gate, "The Webway has a mind of its own, and is almost as dangerous as the Warp, so much it has been lost since the Fall that even we Dark Eldar no longer know all of its mysteries."

"Xenos! If you leave me behind again I swear I will rip you heart with my bare fist." Coming out of the foliage, that the Archon had just appeared from, came Sister Avaline, slightly blooded armour but otherwise unhurt.

"Relax monkey, we have returned to the Webway Gate and you are reunited with your Inquisitor are you not." Xanxas noticed that Kythorax was trying, though unsuccessfully, to hid a smile.

"Inquisitor, it is good to see that you are well."There was a flicker of sadness in her face as she anticipated the first thing Xanxas was going to ask.

"How many?" Xanxas asked, a bitter taste in his mouth, he knew the answer, he had seen the carnage.

"Inquisitor it was not your fault. You..." Xanxas cut her off, he was an Inquisition in service to the emperor, and he did not need to be coddled.

"Tell me how many Avaline!" He shouted, he wanted to hear her say it.

"All of them," Avaline answered quietly, hanging her head, "We are all that is left. As I said though you can't..."

Avaline was cut off by a gunshot; a single Ork jumped out from the foliage and fired his gun, most of the shots missed but a single shot lodged itself inside the Sisters left shoulder, spreading the pauldron. Feeling the shot, and being now unable to respond Avaline hit the ground with a large thumb. Xanxas drew his pistol but he was too slow, Kythorax had already began to move towards the Ork moving at a speed Xanxas couldn't even comprehend. Dodging side to side the Archon easily avoided the Orks frantic fire, drawing his blade mere inches in front of the Ork. The Orks gun fell silent, Kythorax stood behind it gently replacing his sword into its holder. What happened next captivated Xanxas, the Ork slowly began to turn to dust, steam was rising from its body as it boiled from the inside, when the steam finally cleared, there was nothing left, except the Orks oversized gun lying where it had once stood.

* * *

After the Ork had been dispatched by Archon Kythorax the silence had set in once more. Avaline had accepted help from Xanxas, but they had not spoken a word to each other. The silence seemed to make time even slower, what made it even worse was that Xanxas had no idea what they were waiting for. His unconscious question was answered when Alythwin returned, unfortunately minus one warlock. She didn't not say a word, simply making her way over to the Webway, placing her hand on it the same way the Archon had done earlier and quietly began chanting.

"Mon-Keigh, I am sorry for the loss that you and your companion have suffered." Xanxas looked up, standing in front of him was one of Alythwin's Warlocks, what made his stand out was the fact that he seemed to be carrying two of the strange hourglass shaped swords, one of which he was offering to Xanxas. "Take this, it was his dying wish. You earned his respect."

Xanxas took the blade, as soon as it touched his fingers he felt a strange energy pulse through him, it was a similar sensation as the one he felt when he channelled warp energy, but much calmer. Gently he ran his hand over the expertly forged blade, the cold metal vibrating ever so slightly beneath his fingertips. He looked up to thank the Warlock, but he was already back over by Alythwin, so he returned his gaze the beautiful blade that he had been gifted. Though it stuck him at that moment, that he was no longer carrying his standard issue chainsword.


	9. Chapter IX, End of Part I

**Name**: Inquisitors Woe

**Factions**: Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks and Chaos

**A/N:** A shorter chapter than normal, but this is also the end of the first part, we have now officially left Scaroos (thank god for that)

**Disclaimer**: I OWN NOTHING (except OC's)

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After spending more than a healthy time staring at the beautiful new blade that he had been gifted, Xanxas placed the blade into the Mag-Holster that was designed for his chainsword. It seemed to fit, but that didn't stop him checking the blade a few more times before he made his way over to where Sister Avaline was standing, now watching over the Farseer, obviously still suspicions.

"Are you really going to use that?" She said quietly as he appeared beside her, eyes directed at the Eldar blade by his side.

"Any reason I wouldn't?" Xanxas asked, the fear he had once felt speaking to Avaline all but gone.

"It is an unclean Xenos weapon, that should be reason enough!" She raised her voice slightly as she spoke, the anger at the fact he had had accepted the blade more than obvious.

"I lost my own blade in the battle with the Greenskins," Xanxas turned to look at her, his eyes lingering for just a second on her damaged pauldron. "Would you rather I have no weapon or a Xenos weapon?"

Avaline didn't answer, his logic seemingly holding her fanaticism at bay for the time being, but he was not sure how long it would last. He observed the clearing, all of the Eldar Dark as well as the Craftworld, seemed to be in some sort of meditative state with the exception of Alythwin. Alythwin was still standing in front of the Webway gate, slowly channelling her psychic energy into it. Xanxas could feel the amount of energy that she was releasing, he had been in the presence of some of the most powerful Psykers within the Imperium but it was nothing compared to this. The amount of psychic energy was almost suffocating, never the less he moved over behind her observing every little move that her body made as it pulsated with energy.

"Your mind and eyes wander over a treasure that can never be won." Alythwin's mythical voice spoke quietly, making Xanxas jump slightly.

"I was wondering what you are doing? I have seen the Eldar use the Webway before; it is usually a swifter process." Xanxas could swear he saw a slight smile appear on the Eldar's face as he spoke.

"One does not open a door in a storm, without first being prepared."

Xanxas shook his head at another non-answer, but as he did, there was a pulse from the gate and a sudden roar as it burst into life. A shimmering veil of psychic energy flowed and fluttered within the arch of the Wraithbone structure. Within seconds Avaline was at his side, still holding her injured arm, and the other Eldar had gathered around the now open doorway.

"Well monkeys, are you ready to take your first step into the unknown of the ancient Eldritch Webway?" Kythorax asked with a large grin.

Both Avaline and Xanxas were unsure about the shimmering gateway, but the Dark Eldar simply stepped on through without a second thought or a look backwards, disappearing back into the ancient roads that they had sprung fourth from. With a simple nod from Alythwin, Xanxas started to move towards the gate Avaline so close to him that their shoulders were touching.

As he entered the gate he felt a chill run the length of his entire body, slowly it was being pulled in. His entire body felt as though it was being pulled apart, bit by bit he felt the forced of the secret technology pull at him. Then it was over, and he was on a long shining path that seemed to be made of warp energy, an ancient Webway corridor. It wasn't long until he realised that he was now alone, Kythorax and his retinue were not standing within the corridor waiting for him to enter, and Avaline had not entered behind him, was this normal? Xanxas however had never travelled by Webway and had no experience that he could even begin to draw a comparison too.

He stood there in the silence of the Webway for a minute or two, not knowing how long that would be outside the confines of the Webway, before he decided that he was going to have to make the journey alone and started to walk down the long lonely pathway. As he walked, more pathways seemed to open up, each heading in a different direction and to a different portal. But the pathways that he could see also seemed to be unstable, every now and again the roads seemed to fade from existence and even the path that he was walking on seemed to begin to lose cohesion if his attention strayed from getting to his destination. Xanxas began to fear that the path would never last he began to move quicker through psychic realm that seemed to be growing ever stranger.

As he approached what he assumed to be the end of the path, he was suddenly compelled to stop. Something was in the Webway with him, something that he could not see, but feel. Tentatively he began to look around, examining the twisted almost liquid looking walls that lined the pathway he was walking though. Then he saw it, through one of the more transparent walls of the Webway he saw the monster from his nightmare, the Giant eye. It sat there simply staring at him, not moving or taking any sort action. The longer they sat there staring at each other the more Xanxas' concentration began to fade.

Without warning the section of pathway underneath his feet vanished, and with a sudden scream, Xanxas fell. He fell and fell passing portal after portal until he finally landed in what seemed an old and unstable one. Just as he started to feel that he was being ripped apart, again he heard a laugh. A simple yet maniacal laugh, something was laughing as though everything was going according to some sort of plan. Then Silence.

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The sound of screams pierced the silence as Xanxas appeared on the other side of the Webway; the ground under his feet was solid, the air no longer filled with the psychic presence of long since dead builders. But still something was wrong. Quickly he looked around, people were running from the now active Webway, but there was no Eldar, and Avaline was nowhere to be seen. A sudden panic gripped Xanxas, as the ground shook. He turned around just in time to see a large silver glove collide with his face. The impact threw him backwards slamming the back of his head on the hard ground, and has his vision began to fade he looked back up at what had hit him. Standing over him was an Adeptus Astartes, through the armour seemed to be of an older design, it was completely silver with the exception of its left pauldron which was bright blue, with the symbol of a panther like creature that was black and gold. Xanxas saw a few more shapes move into his vision before he finally passed out.


End file.
